Mirror, Mirror of the Dimensional Wall Teaser
by Mei Neko
Summary: A teaser of the future for A Reader in the Star. Need to read that fic before you read this just so it makes sense. Disclaimer: The television series and movies belong to those that have the rights. River and friends in the future after the movie plot.


Hey! This is a little fic teaser that's been on my mind and I figure to get it out to pacify some of you a bit. There are some spoilers for A Reader in the Stars but I kept the big ones in the dark!!!

Hope you like it!

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Mirror, Mirror of the Dimensional Wall (A Reader in the Stars future fic teaser)

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Spock normally did not disagree with the captain on every decision. He just disagrees with the ones that are illogical in terms of the captain's safety and sanity. And he has two persons of interest who can support him on his opinions.

One is Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, a highly talented communications officer who is not charmed by the captain like many of the crew population of the Enterprise.

The other ironically is Doctor Leonard McCoy, an emotionally human doctor who made it his personal vendetta to argue every point that the Vulcan has.

Unfortunately Spock has little to no choice in the decision of the party beaming down to Halkan. Since it is required for one of the commanding officers to stay aboard the Enterprise, Captain James T Kirk felt that his first officer should remain. Mostly due to the fact that the Vulcan would be the center of attention than the talks of mining rights that the Federation is hoping to secure.

The captain had fervently denied that it had nothing to do with the fact that Spock had refused one Commander River Tam from beaming to the Enterprise from the Serenity for a surprise visit.

The doctor however agreed with Spock's conclusion.

So did the majority of the senior bridge crew.

However Ensign Chekov and Lieutenant Scott Montgomery had sided with the captain while Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu stayed neutral in the disagreement.

Spock felt that the Japanese man was mostly amused with the whole situation and held no hard feeling in not seeing his friend. The Vulcan conclude that Sulu had commed the commander recently and was contented with the communication.

Looking over at Nyota, he pressed his lips lightly in agitation. The party was only going to be made up of four with no security detail. The party consisted of Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Lieutenant Commander Doctor Leonard McCoy, Lieutenant Scott Montgomery, and Captain James T Kirk. The Halkans were supposedly of a peaceful race and the captain felt that there was no need to bring down security to impress the Halkans of the Federation's power.

The first officer disagreed with the decision. While the Federation was currently building up the power that it once had, the empires that are against it were still more powerful. It was lucky that the Klingons and the Romulans were still at war which meant that they did not concentrate on the Federation; however it made the Neutral Zone perilous.

"Spock, quit worrying."

Rising one eyebrow, Spock gave his captain a look that did not convey his thoughts.

"May I remind you, captain, of the dangers that occur when you gave the exact statement? 67.89% of the missions we have completed had ended you with grave injuries and casualties among the crew."

"Goddammit, you green hobgoblin. We've only been at this stupid trip for a year." The doctor muttered under his breath.

"And every first voyage will have plenty of troubles. Besides, you said so yourself that the structures of the city itself allows beaming so if we get into trouble, the Enterprise will get us out. So logically, it's safer with smaller numbers. Besides, Uhura kicks ass." The captain said grinning.

His captain was chattering in a manner that was supposed to comfort his first officer that the Vulcan's partner of interest would be safe. Spock was not worried about Nyota's safety. He was 93.72% positive that out of the four, Nyota will survive. And he was not worried about the doctor or the chief engineer as their rates of survival are at a high average of 84.23% and 80.51%.

Captain James T Kirk's rate however was a low 43.11% in coming out of mission unharmed.

"Aye! You keep yer self from worryin' about yer lass, Mr. Spock! She'll keep us from gettin' into real trouble!" Chief Engineer Montgomery replied with a wide grin. Then a scowl formed on the man's face as he turned on the pad to face Lieutenant Keenser. "And you! No climbing on the Jeffie tubes!"

"Enough!"

All the men turned to see Nyota Uhura glaring at them like a mother glaring at her unruly children. She first turned on the engineer.

"Keenser can climb all he wants as long as he's doing his damn job."

Then she turned to the doctor.

"And calling Spock names won't change the fact that we're beaming and getting our molecules scattered in space."

Ignoring the doctor's slight shudder at her comment, the beautiful and fierce woman narrowed her eyes at Kirk.

"You better try to stay out of trouble. I'm not going to have to go through all those damn press comms again."

She waited until Kirk looked apologetic before she finally faced Spock.

"We'll be fine, commander. Hopefully we'll have those mining rights secured in a week." Looking over at the lieutenant commanding the transporter she gave him a cool look. "Energize."

It took Spock .254 seconds to realize that, as River and Kirk would say, Nyota kicks serious ass.

****

Wash stared at the stars with a small smile.

This was life that he knew and loved at heart. A steady ship, the cold space, a good crew, and the thrill of adventure were the ingredients of a good life for a man of his age. All he needed was a good woman to keep her warm and to give full body massages to. And a –

His nose caught the scent of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and cream streaming in the air. And it was getting closer, its scent wrapping up his mind in mouthwatering goodness and a warm stomach.

"Coffee break."

His smile widen as he reached out and wrapping his hand around almost too hot ceramic and placed the cup just under his nose to feel the steam flow around his face. Taking a cautionary sip, the sweet coffee almost burned his tongue, but it was worth the taste that blossomed into his senses.

"I love our ship." Wash said dreamily. Looking over at the girl who made it all happen, he toasted to her before going back to his coffee.

"We all love the espresso machine, Wash." River Tam replied with a smile as she sat down in the co-pilot seat. Her own cup of joe was held in her two hands as she studied the star charts. Satisfied with what she saw, River placed her feet up on the seat of the chair and leaned back.

"You know, you could try to figure out how to install a bath tub. I volunteer my cabin for the site."

The girl only rolled her eyes at her friend.

"We know that Zoe loves her baths, but it won't work out right. Besides, we made the water tank into an impromptu swimming pool. With cleaning filters." She reminded him.

"Sonics still sucks." Wash grumbled into his cup. Then he looked back to the open door to see no one walking around the hall way. "Where is everyone?"

"Book is taking a nap and our resident gun mistress is checking over the shuttles. She thinks that the port side shuttle is jerking a bit." River answered absently as she stared at the stars. Wash only nodded at that. Their mistress was good at being prepared at all times.

The tiny crew of the Serenity had just recently finished off a small mission in talks with the some of the Klingons who were interested in joining the Federation. However it was just the beginning and it had to be kept secret due to the fact that the Klingons were at war with the Romulans and it would be damaging for both parties if the empires find out. It would be another few weeks before they could meet again.

"So, whose turn is it to cook?" Wash asked as he swiveled to his right to mess with the communications consul. They had been under radio silence for some time and he felt it would do some good to see if their friends from the Enterprise were near.

"Book's. I think he's planning on making something fresh."

"Fresh is good. We got a good supply of fresh vegetables. Hopefully nothing too poisonous for us humans." Wash quipped. River snorted her agreement before she frowned. After living, laughing, working and fighting together for the past few years, the blond pilot knew that look. "Reading something?"

He watched as her lips pressed and her forehead creased with confusion.

"Something happened. Something's wrong." She said vaguely as her eyes moved rapidly. Shifting her cup to one hand, her free hand began moving over the touch screen of the consul before her. The main view screen instantly changed to a large star chart that moved rapidly from one system to the next until a magnified view of a planet appeared at the center while the sides of the screen practically flew with reports and holovids.

Wash took only a minute to look at the name of the planet before turning his eyes away. He did not know how the hell River manages to do it, but all that speed reading was making him sick.

"What's in Halkan?" he asked as he closed his eyes.

"Dilithium mining rights for the Federation. The Enterprise is station there for negotiations."

Wash's eyebrows rose at that.

"They sent Kirk to do the talking? Gods, our bosses are lazy."

"No, they were hoping that the Enterprise will impress the locals. But – "River said before she cut herself off.

"But?"

"I don't see a report about the mission being completed but I have no reports of the negotiations' progress.

"Maybe they haven't started yet."

"No reports on that either. In fact Spock hasn't sent any reports at all." River finally said with a frown. Wash looked over at River with concern. The man knew Spock well enough to know that something big must have happened if Spock was not sending any reports.

The two sat there in silence before Wash began to plot the coordinates for a warp 6. River gave him a knowing look before getting out of her chair and exiting out of the bridge. It took Wash about twenty minutes to check and double check his work before exiting the bridge, past the front hall, past the dining room, into the back hall and making a left to the transporter room.

River was already there wearing her blue science uniform dress and her utility belt with her phaser and tricorder. Her hair was tied to the side in a low ponytail and she was wearing her combat boots. She was leaning over the consul of the transporter before walking over to the pad. Wash went behind the consul waited for her to be ready.

"Tell them sorry for missing dinner."

"You'll definitely be gorram sorry for missing dinner. We're getting the good stuff tonight." Wash teased. Then he turned serious. "We'll be there as soon as possible. Hold on a few hours, we'll get there."

"Yeah, thank the gods for Scotty's trans-warp beaming equation. Energize."

As soon as he pressed the button, a swirl of white bluish light surrounded River before she disappeared. Wash sighed before he started his trek back to the engine room. If he was going to get started on the warp, he better set the gravity right.

****

When Spock received the report that Commander River Tam had came unannounced, his first thought that it was not protocol to come unannounced. However once his eyes lay on his best friend, he could not deny that the syntaxes of his neuron cells were giving out messages for his body to relax.

Already River had rushed her pace to hug him and giving him as much comfort as she possibly can. The contact made him feel safe and it was a relief to have a friend after the past hour with - .

He could feel River's curiosity as her mind began to explore his. He allowed it so as she carefully looked at the memories before disbelief and shock were registered. Spock leaned his forehead against hers and the girl held his face in her two cool hands, very much like his mother would do.

"We'll get to the bottom of this." She promised softly. Then River turned to the Head of Security, Lieutenant Matthews AKA Cupcake. "Escort us to the prisoners."

"Yes, commander. If you will follow me."

They all walked in silence as they reached to the brig. River held Spock's hand tightly and began to swing it gently between them. None of their guards said anything about the odd display of affection between the two commanders. Even if they all knew from rumors that the first officer was supposedly in a relationship with the communications officer.

However before he reached to the brig, Matthews turned to look at the younger female. He looked like he was conflicted about something before he made his decision.

"Commander Tam, I have to warn you, it's rather disturbing."

Spock watched as River placed a hand on the man's shoulder. Through their linked minds, he could feel the worry for the man's –

"It must have been hard for you, lieutenant." She said softly. Matthews bit his lip and gave a nod.

"He didn't call me like he usually did and the look in his eyes – all their eyes – "

River squeezed the man's shoulder and the human stopped. However his conflict and guilt did not.

"We'll figure this all out."

That simple sentence appeared to calm Matthews enough for him to gather himself. He saluted to his superiors before entering the code to the brig. The door opened and he stood aside to allow the two commanders to enter.

"Good luck, commander."

River gave a nod of thanks before giving a comforting squeeze to Spock's hand. Spock return the gesture before steeling himself for the emotions that he knew would receive from the human next to him.

****

She did her best to shield most of what she was reading from Spock. What she was reading and feeling would cause her best friend to become emotionally uncontrollable and that was something they could not afford.

Especially with these prisoners.

River felt numb as she stared at the four prisoners before her. It felt odd looking at these four and reading thoughts that should not have existed.

The prisoners consists a group of three men and one woman. The oldest man was in his late thirties and wore a red uniform but the style was nothing like she seen in this universe. It was a mixed of an Alliance uniform with a children's idea of grandeur of symbols of importance. There were a couple of medals and the man wore a sash.

The second oldest man wore a similar uniform except it was in blue. River felt her stomach clench as she read his thoughts. His thoughts and memories were similar to ones that she remember of the doctors torturing her expect that man was a torturer. She clenched her free fist to fight the urge to stab the man before her like she did to the doctor of her past.

As her eyes shift to the only woman, her heart went out to Spock. The uniform the female wore was obscene and River felt disgusted that it was called a uniform. And then she read from Spock what he lived through when he saw her. The look the woman gave him must have hurt, but what River had read from her would have done more than hurt Spock – it would question his own relationship with –

Turning away, she finally looked at the last person and for a moment she felt like laughing. The man's uniform reminded her more of those male strippers than a uniform for the military. Although she had to admit that the vest hugged his body well and it showed off his arms. However her eyes caught the hard lines of his face and the look of his blue eyes that nearly froze her heart.

"So, showing off your woman, Spock? Or is she your mistress? You never did like being the top dog." The man sneered while eyeing her body. "Although I never seen you before. What are you? Imperial spy? You look soft enough to whore your way around."

She held out a hand to signal the guards to stop their advancement. Their prisoners were watching them, letting their leader do the talking, and waiting for a chance to overpower them all.

Her eyes moved rapidly at each prisoner, and her lips pursed in concentration. The man's eyes landed on that pout and dark fantasies filled her thoughts before Spock pulled her into his arm. Her mind took the escape in reaching out for Spock, giving him everything that she learned. As Spock looked and studied the thoughts and memories, River's brown eyes locked on the blue eyes of a man she knew and at the same time did not.

"Welcome to the USS Enterprise, Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the ISS Enterprise."

For a moment the man looked smug before River blinked at him.

"I am Commander River Tam and I can kill you with my brain."

It was worth the look on the man's face – very much like Jayne's.

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It is 12:50 AM on 2-5-2010 Eastern Time and it's my birthday!!!

Anyway, I have been having problems with the next chapter of A Reader in the Stars because this thing has been on my find. I hope that by writing and posting this, I'll be able to get back to the chapter.

Apparently Wash and Spock are harder to write together than I thought it would be. However once I get that over with, I'll be able to finish out the rest soon.


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